The invention is concerned with devices for holding books in opened configuration, particularly paperbacks but also including hard cover books. More specifically, the invention relates to a book leaf holder which has an essentially planar configuration, which conveniently holds a book to an open position for one-handed reading by the user, and which is useful as a bookmark when the book is closed.
Numerous different configurations of book leaf holders have been disclosed. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,932,680, 4,645,236, 4,474,383, 4,382,617, 4,235,457, 3,513,806, 2,271,807 and 1,469,163. The book holding devices of most of these patents are designed to function from the center of the book, engaging in some way with the book's binding and having a member which spreads the leaves from the center outward. Kemp U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,236 shows a book page holder formed from a thin, flat single piece of material such as acrylic plastic, with a pair of fork-like fingers at each end. The device is to be used by inserting it in a clip-like manner in engagement with the leaves of the open book, at the top or bottom of the book, with each pair of fingers acting as a clip. The page holder generally straddles the center binding. No member extends behind the book, i.e. around the front and rear covers and the binding, and the pages are held from positions near the center binding. The device disclosed in the patent would not seem to strongly urge the book toward the intended open position, particularly in the case of books having a strong tendency to close, such as paperbacks.
Kikis U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,383 is in some respects closer to the concept of the present invention, in disclosing a book leaf holder device comprising an elongated back member and a page clip at each end of the back member. The back member extends behind the book when in open position, i.e. behind the book's front and back covers, and a clip at each side is engaged over a sheaf of pages. The device is formed of two pieces, foldable together about a central pivot point for storage when not in use. The described book leaf holder is formed of members having a band-like cross section so that a fairly wide area of engagement occurs against the pages at the clips, covering text. Accordingly, the book holder is disclosed as being transparent. There is no capability of storing the Kikis book holder in planar or near planar configuration, thus precluding storing the book holder in the book itself.
Although the prior art is replete with book leaf holders in hundreds of configurations, none of these has the features and advantages of the present invention described below.